Ill-Fated and Innocent
by Amaurea
Summary: Just a crazy lil fic I did bout Sirius Black's experiances from the time he discovers that Lily and James are dead to the time he unites with Harry. PoA and GoF spoilers! R/R!
1. Loss of a Marauder

((A/N: Howz it goin, peeps? I dunno bout you guys, but Sirius Black is da MAN! So, I decided to write a corny lil' fic about him. ^_^ R/R! Enjoy!))

Ill-Fated and Innocent **Chapter 1**

The Loss of a Marauder

          Now, more than ever, Sirius wished his flying motorcycle was faster. The night was cold and partly cloudy. The moon shone bright. Nearly a full one. Normally, Sirius would have enjoyed such a night. But now, he wasn't paying attention.

          He had just recived word that the Potter's house had been attacked by Lord Voldemort.

          _Hang on, James. I'm coming, _he thought.  _Please be okay…_

          He was almost there…now he could see the thin plume of smoke that rose into the air.  

          _No, damnit, No!_

          Maybe, just maybe Lily, James, and Harry were okay. Just maybe…

          But Sirius knew in his heart that he was too late. He had barely landed his motorcycle in the driveway when he jumped of and scrambled to the rubble and mess that had once been a house. There was a huge figure standing nearby.

          Hagrid was holding little Harry Potter in his arms when he heard Sirius coming. The boy ran towards him.

          "Hagrid! Lily and James! Are they okay?" he cried. Sirius ran to Hagrid, catching his breath. Hagrid sniffed and put a huge hand on Sirius's shoulder.

          "I'm sorry, Sirius. They didn't make it. Ol' You-Know-Who got to 'em first…" he said. Sirius's breathing became shakey as he looked at Hagrid with a hurt expression on his pale face. Slowly, he turned to look at the remains of the house. 

          He walked slowly towards it and saw the lifeless bodies of James and Lily Potter sprawled out before him, half buried in the mess.

          Sirius fell to his knees, trembling, beside his friend. He felt sick. He should have known. He should have listened to James and been the Secret-Keeper. He shouldn't have insisted on Peter. Should have…

          But none of that mattered anymore.  His best friend was dead. Dead. And all because of his stupid mistake….

          "_Peter_," he growled. Silent tears slid down his cheeks. "Damn you, Peter. God damnit!" Sirius put his head in his hands, crying but not aware of it. 

          Hagrid waited. He felt it was the right thing to do. He couldn't just leave the poor boy there mourning over his best friend…. He walked over to Sirius and put a hand on his back.

          "There, there," he said. He sniffed again and wiped away his own huge tears. "It'll be okay. 'Arry's still 'ere. I have to be going. Are you gunna be okay?"

          Sirius sat back up, running his fingers through his semi long hair. "Yeah," he lied. Hagrid nodded and started to walk away.

          Sirius looked at his friend on last time. Then he laid his forehead on James's. 

          "See you 'round, Prongs," he said in a small, shakey voice. "Goodbye, Lily."

          He stood up.

          "Hagrid, wait!" he called. Hagrid stopped walking and looked at him. Sirius ran to the half-giant. "Please, let me take Harry."

          Hagrid sighed. "Sorry, my young friend. But Dumbledore gave me strict orders."

          "_Please_ Hagrid! He's my godson! Please?" Sirius begged. 

          "I'm sorry, Sirius. But I can't…."

          Sirius looked at his godson. The poor orphen had a cut on his forehead, but he was fast asleep. He still felt dizzy, sick, and weak, but he desperately wanted to take care of Harry. It was the least he could do for Lily and James….

          He looked at Hagrid, a hard yet sad expression on his face.

          "Take my motorcycle. I won't be needing it anymore," he said.

          With that, he left. Once he was out of sight of Hagrid, he transformed into a large black dog. He had made up his mind. He knew what he had to do.

          He was going to hunt Peter down. And when he found him, he was going to kill him.

          Padfoot was going to tear him apart.

((A/N: Go Padfoot. Whadooya think? Short? Crappy? Yeah. I thought so. The next chapter will be more interesting and detailed. I hope. ^_- Please review! Catch ya later!))


	2. Wormtail

((A/N: Ack! another chapter! Forgive me for any screw-ups or typos that might be here. Keep in mind, PoA and GoF spoilers. Duh. ^_-  YAY! I made Venus cry!! Glad you liked it, L. I'm also glad that you got so caught up in it. ^_^ Don't worry. Happens to me, too. Anyway. I am suffering from a lack of interesting things to say, so I'll shut up and type. R/R!))

Ill-Fated and Innocent

Chapter 2

Wormtail

          Sirius neither slept nor ate that night. He spent the whole time hunting for Peter Pettigrew. He was a black, furry mass of rage. He didn't notice his hunger or that he was growing tired. Sirius ran as fast as he could to the place he had last heard from Peter. A wizarding restaurant. There, he sniffed about furiously to catch the scent of Peter. 

Or a rat.

          Finally, he caught it. It was an old trail, but Sirius's keen dog nose could sense it. He followed it, losing it many times. And at such times he barely realized it, and ran as fast as he could anywhere. It didn't matter. He would have traveled around the entire world to find the traitor and he wouldn't have cared. 

          Sirius ran all night. Through neighborhoods, across fields and meadows, through cities. And it wasn't until the next morning that he found who he was looking for.

          Peter was in a city far from the Potter's house. He wasn't dressed in a disguise or anything of the sort, but his normal clothing. 

          Of course, Sirius thought. That would attract too much attention. Especially from someone who was looking for him.

          Peter did slink around a bit. He took any alleyways he could find and didn't talk to anyone, not even to apologize to a poor little old lady when he bumped into her. 

          The sky had grown cloudy over the night. Thunder rolled in the distance, threatening to pour rain down upon the earth. There was a slight breeze in the air.

          Sirius watched the bumbling fool from an ally across a busy street from him. He growled, mouth foaming from running for so long. Then, feeling as thought the time was right, he transformed back into a human. The fur melted away into human flesh. His muzzle shortened and became a human face. His eyes changed from deep brown to amber. (A/N: I dunno what color eyes he has. So I just put amber. ^_^)) His tail slinked back into his spine. 

          He was human now. Sirius rose to his feet, stepping out of the shadows, and looked at Peter.

          "Wormtail!" He called out. Peter stopped dead in his tracks and turned to see Sirius standing at the corner of the street across from him. Sirius pulled out his wand as the thunder sounded again. "You think you're smart, Peter? You think you're brave? We'll see."

          Peter took a deep breath and ran into the middle of the street. People stepped aside to see what the fuss was about. Peter pulled out his wand and pointed it at Sirius. 

          "Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?" He cried. His face was one of a frightened child. He was simply obeying the Dark Lord's orders. The words were not his own.

          Slowly, it dawned on Sirius, and slowly, his expression changed from anger to horror.

          Of course. He should have known it was a trap. He was being framed. He had been blinded by his grief and fury and didn't think it through. He pointed his wand at Peter, ready to disarm him, but before he could do anything, Peter squeezed his eyes shut and threw his wand over his shoulder. 

          There was a blast of white light and a cracking, snapping sound louder than the thunder could ever be. Screams rang out over the city of those hit by the blast. Sirius held his arm in front of his face to shield his eyes from the blinding light.

          Then it stopped.

          Sirius lowered his arm and looked out to see what had happened. There was a huge crack in the road that went on for blocks. There were lifeless bodies littered about everywhere. Some people were still alive, but badly injured and moaning. Many people were screaming. 

          And all that was left where Peter once stood was a heap of bloody robes and a single finger.

          Sirius surveyed the scene in horror. 

          Wormtail...

          _Why did you do this? After all we've done for you...Sirius thought bitterly._

          Then a score of wizards Apparated onto the scene.

          So this was it...

          There would be no escape. Everyone at the Ministry of Magic thought _he had committed this god-awful crime. They thought that __he had committed these murders._

          And they thought he had killed his best friend...

          Peter was cleverer than he had thought. 

          Hunger and lack of sleep began to catch up to Sirius. He gave a lopsided smile and laughed. The laugh started soft, but when the Ministry wizards and witches got to him, he was laughing like a madman.

          _What else could go wrong? he thought._

          The people of the Ministry of Magic came and grabbed him. Sirius didn't fight back. He was too tired and weary, both physically and emotionally, to do so. Then he saw a wizard pull his wand out and cry, "_Stupify!_"

          The blast of sparkling magic his Sirius square in the chest. The impact felt like a hit with a sledgehammer. Then everything went black. Sirius Black collapsed, unconscious.

          Remus Lupin sat at his desk.

          James…dead….

          And Peter? Who knew?

          Sirius? A fate far worse than death if he was caught.

          "Sirius…How could you? Like brothers, we were. We were brothers. He was your best friend…"

          Suddenly, his window burst open and a barn owl flew in from the night and dropped a letter on the desk. Then it flew away. Remus looked at it, his chin resting on his folded hands. Then he picked up the letter and opened it.

          _Dear Remus Lupin,_

_The Ministry of Magic wishes to inform you that Sirius Black has been caught. He will be sent to Azkaban for a life sentence immediately .However, I regret to report that Peter Pettigrew has been killed by Black along with street full of people, muggles and wizards._

_Sincerely,_

_                                The Minister of Magic_

((A/N: forgot his name. I'm too lazy to look it up. /_-))

Remus dropped the letter and watched as it floated back onto his desk.

"My God, Sirius. What have you done to yourself? Why did you do it?" he wondered out loud. "James _and _Peter…?" He put his head in his hands, trying not to cry.

((A/N: EEK! Lame. Lame lame lame. Too fast. I must be getting a writer's block… But the next chapter will be better, I swear!! Please review! Later.))


	3. Dark Journey

((A/N: Whew! I know it's been a while, but I decided to type some more. (Obviously I'm bored) ^_- So, I know the other chapters were REALLY lame and too short. But I'm HOPING this one'll be better. *crosses fingers *  And another thing- I'm PRETTY sure that Azkaban is in the ocean, right? I haven't read the books in sooooo long…I have to many stupid projects to do for school that I don't have much time for pleasure reading anymore…* sigh*))

Ill-Fated and Innocent

Chapter 3

Dark Journey

Sirius was vaguely aware of people dragging him around, pulling him here and there. He also heard voices, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He only knew that they were talking about him. Sirius's head was swimming. He fell in and out of consciousness. Sometimes he could see and hear things, but he couldn't make sense of them. Other times, everything was dark and blank. 

He remembered being pulled into a sort of office. All the shades on the windows were down and there were about half a dozen Wizards from the Ministry of Magic guarding him. 

"He is to go to Azkaban immediately."

The voice was strangely familiar…

"Sir, what about a trial?"

"Didn't you see what happened today?" the first voice asked, sounding alarmed and irritated. "He just slaughtered a street full of people and you want to give him a bloody _trial_? Get him out of my sight and away from sane people! He's a threat to us all, and a servant of You-Know-Who! Out!!"

Sirius understood none of this. His senses weren't together. He couldn't make out the words that sealed his fate.

He was again dragged around. He felt a change in temperature as the Ministry Wizards brought him outside into the cold. Then everything went black again. A minute or an hour later, Sirius began to hear voices again. But no there was a different sound- the lapping of water against the shore. Sirius realized that his arms and legs were magically bound and had been so for a while. He was thrown into what had to have been a boat. After a minute Sirius noticed they were moving. 

It took another fifteen minutes before he began to fully regain consciousness. He moaned, opened his eyes and blinked. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness and saw that he was indeed in a wooden boat. It was a small rowboat and there were only about four wizards in it besides him. 

"Don't you try anything funny, now," said a voice. "We're in the middle of the ocean and if you jump, you'll drown, ya hear?" Sirius moved only his eyes to look up at the wizard who had spoken. He was a middle-aged man with brown hair. He held his wand in his hand tightly, now that Sirius was awake. 

Sirius rolled himself over and, not without a great deal of trouble, sat up, his body still bound by magic. He looked around. It was night and all he could see was the boat, the other wizards and the black, forbidding ocean. It was cold. So cold Sirius could see his breath rise into the night. Unlike the Ministry Wizards, he didn't have a cloak on or a blanket or anything of the sort. 

"For heaven's sake, John, take that magic off of him at least," said one of the wizards. "He has no wand and he's barely conscious enough to see. He won't do anything."

John looked at Sirius, hesitating. Then he reluctantly waved his wand, obviously not happy about giving the "murderer" any possibility of being comfortable. Sirius rubbed his arms and stretched thankfully. The circulation began to run properly again.  ((A/N: Whoa! I suddenly got the idea that Josh Hartnett should play Sirius in the movie!!!! Jeez. Just out of the blue…)) He massaged his head and looked around again, not saying a word. He looked down at the black water lapping up against the boat and cringed. He hated water. ((A/N: That's just my own idea…)) He sure as hell wasn't going to jump. God knows what kinds of magical and horrific creatures were down there.

He sat on the floor of the boat, not looking at the other wizards, but down at his feet. He was still dazed a little. His head began to swim again and he felt as though he was going to pass out once more, but he managed to stay conscious. Sirius watched his breath rise into the night. The only reason he could see it was because of the lamp that hung from a post on the boat. So he sat there, thinking. 

James was dead. Peter was dead. And Remus would know by now…. A wave of sickness swept over Sirius. Remus must think that _he_ had killed them. That _he_ had betrayed them. But no mater how many horrible thoughts plagued his mind, he couldn't keep his mind off of James. His friend. His brother. His buddy, Prongs, his amigo, his homie, ((A/N:* snicker*)) his partner-in-crime…dead. Killed for the soul fact that he was a descendant of someone special. Someone well known. How could someone kill like that, with no thought? No sympathy? _For pleasure_? How could someone simply be so horrible, so heartless, so cruel that they would just take a life, and by doing so destroying others, without a second thought? Sirius's mind trailed back to the good old days when that wasn't an issue. When he and James laughed and played jokes side-by-side. 

"Voldemort…." He whispered bitterly. No one else heard him.

Another hour passed in silence. It was icy cold. The Ministry wizards huddled together and wrapped themselves up in cloaks and blankets, but still could not stop shivering. Sirius was shivering, but he realized it only at a subconscious level. He stared straight ahead, towards the left side of the boat and out towards the ocean. It was only when he realized that his hand was shaking violently that he tore his gaze away and huddled up.

The air was salty, and the night was cloudy. The moon's light was weak. Sirius wasn't sure how long they sat there, but the silence was deafening. He also wasn't sure of where they were going. If his senses had not been blurred, he would have been able to search the subconscious level of his mind and realized the answer…

Sirius blacked out again. When he woke up, he found himself in the gray dawn of the ocean. Most of the other wizards were asleep. Only two were awake. Sirius didn't say anything to them, and they didn't say anything to him. There was a silent, unspoken agreement between the guards and the captive; and that was their lack of conversation. ((A/N: ok, that didn't make sense…))  The morning was misty. The mist snaked up from the water and slowly vanished.

The day wore on and the mist was replaced by the burning sun and the sapphire blue ocean. The men conversed quietly amongst themselves while Sirius looked out at the water. Until now, the water had been calm and peaceful, but now it slapped up against the sides of the boat, causing it to rock back and fourth, up and down. It wasn't too bad, but it made the Wizards, guards and captive alike, uneasy. They rowed on for hours through he waves. By noon, the sea was calm again. Sirius fell asleep a few times here and there. 

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. Sirius was resting his chin on the edge of the boat when a noise was heard. It was like a deep hum. It was a haunting sound that caused all of the men in the boat to start, look around, and mutter to themselves. Sirius lifted his head and looked about. The noise came again, louder this time. Sirius said nothing, but continued to look around nervously. Then, to the right side of the boat, a large gray object rose from the water and a whale exhaled and took in a deep breath. It paused to look at the men in the boat curiously. Sirius stared at it. All six creatures watched each other for a moment, then the whale took another breath and disappeared beneath the velvety water.

Night came. The sunset was spectacular, but Sirius was not aware of it. He sat and listened to the water lapping up against the boat. All the men but one were asleep. This night was cloudy like the previous one, though not quite as much. The moon and the stars were occasionally visible from the tiny boat. The night, though, was just as cold as the last night. Sirius huddled up and fell asleep. He awoke again a little while later. The sounds of the whales were heard again. This time, Sirius sat and listened to them for a few hours. He did not see the whales, but their songs were unmistakable. This time they did not seem so haunting, but rather mysterious. Sirius could tell that there were at least three of them, somewhere far off, because when one whale stopped singing and another started, the pitch and style of the song would change. Sirius listened to their songs, until they lulled him to sleep once more.

He awoke to the sound of one of the men arousing the others. 

"We're here," they said. "Wake up, come on." One by one, the men sat up and rubbed their eyes. They looked up at what lay before them. Sirius looked up too. 

He had never seen it before, but he knew that, when the clouds moved away and he saw its figure rising up from the ocean, he knew where they had taken him. The huge stone building sat on a tiny, rocky island. It had few towers compared to the Hogwarts castle and it was not well kept. There was algae and moss growing on the walls. But it still gave the place a chilling forbidding aura around it.

Azkaban.

Sirius, who had been squatting down on the floor of the boat, gasped in horror and slowly fell back, now completely awake.

Azkaban.

He was going to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban.

((A/N: It seems as though I almost started to take after J.R.R Tolkien, who seems to enjoy telling about how the characters walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked…^_- That's the only thing I don't like about those books. Other than that, I love them. I'm glad J.K. Rowling doesn't do that. *Breathes a sigh of relief. * ^_- Anyway, hope u guyz liked it. The next chapter takes up inside Azkaban…( ooooo, ahhhhhh) ))


End file.
